With the arrival of a ubiquitous information society, information terminals need to be able to transfer information anytime, anywhere. For such a terminal, a flexible, light-weight, and inexpensive electronic device is required, but conventional electronic devices using an inorganic semiconductor material such as silicon do not sufficiently meet the requirement. Accordingly, in recent years, electronic devices using organic semiconductor materials have been intensively studied for satisfying such requirements (Chemical Reviews, 2007, 107, 1296 to 1323 and “Organic Field-Effect Transistors” (2007, CRC Press), pp. 159 to 228).
Organic semiconductor materials are classified into p-type organic semiconductors for transporting holes, and n-type organic semiconductors for transporting electrons in the same manner as inorganic semiconductor materials. When a p-type organic semiconductor material and an n-type organic semiconductor material are combined with each other, an ambipolar organic transistor (Chemical Reviews, 2007, 107, 1296 to 1323) and an organic photoelectric conversion device (Chemical Reviews, 2007, 107, 1324 to 1338) are obtained. Recently, it is reported that by use of a molecule wherein a p-type organic semiconductor compound residue and an n-type organic semiconductor compound residue are linked to each other through a covalent bond (hereinafter referred to as a “p-n linked molecule”), functions of the p-type organic semiconductor and n-type organic semiconductor can be performed with a single component by using the p-n linked molecule (Journal of Materials Chemistry, 2004, 14, 2840 to 2841 and Chemical Communications, 1999, 617 to 618).
The properties of an organic semiconductor material largely depend on the orientation/alignment state of the molecule thereof. In particular, in the case of using the p-n linked molecule, the above-mentioned function cannot be expressed unless a hole transporting path and an electron transporting path are both formed. Thus, it is important to control the orientation/alignment of the molecule. As the method for controlling the orientation/alignment of the molecule, the use of liquid crystallinity is effective (Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2007, 46, 4832 to 4837). As an organic electronic device using the p-n linked molecule, an example of an organic thin-film photoelectric conversion device has been hitherto reported in which the following is used: a disc-form compound wherein a triphenylamine compound residue, which is a p-type organic semiconductor compound residue, and a peryleneimide compound residue, which is an n-type organic semiconductor compound residue, are linked together. However, the orientation/alignment order of the molecule is low. Therefore, a transporting path for two carrier species (holes and electrons) cannot be made of a single component by using the p-n linked molecule. Thus, it is reported that photoelectric conversion performance is expressed only in the case of using the p-n linked molecule as mixed with a fullerene compound which is an n-type organic semiconductor material (Journal of Materials Chemistry, 2006, 16, 874 to 884).